Advertising your nonprofit is not wasting money
Have you ever found yourself in the position of having to justify advertising to your boss?
Have people ever looked at you sideways because you wanted to advertise in 4 newspapers, on the buses, on a billboard, on the subway, in a street banner, and on the radio and tv too?
Have people asked you, “What’s wrong with you? Why do you want to waste so much money that could be going to your cause?”
Common Misconception: Charities should not waste money on expensive advertising. It is money that could otherwise go to the needy.
When we discourage paid advertising, we are saying, “Our charity is not important enough to advertise.” Guess what, if you don’t advertise in the paper, on the radio, on TV, on the street, your competition will. And your competition is Coke, Nike, and Estee Lauder.
People spend their money on things that grab their attention. Coke says, “You’re thirsty.” Nike says, “You’re athletic.” Estee Lauder says, “You need makeup to look pretty.” And your nonprofit needs to say, “You want to help make the world a better place. Here’s where you do it.”
Advertising builds consumer demand. The more that charities are allowed to advertise, the better they can compete with consumer products for the consumer’s dollar, and the more money they can raise for the needy.
Does it make you angry that management is making it hard for you to raise money, hard for you to do your job? Are you frustrated that it’s your job to raise all of the money, yet you’re supposed to just make people hear about you by magic?
Say it quietly at first: “Advertising our nonprofit is not wasting money.”
Say it to your coworkers: “Advertising our nonprofit is not wasting money. This is how we get more donations and continue to do our work.”
Say it to everyone, shout it, “HEY! Advertising our nonprofit is not wasting money!”
Here’s an idea. Show your nonprofit boss how much success another nonprofit in your field is having, because they are advertising. Tell your boss you need to advertise your nonprofit, just to be heard.
Thank you to Dan Pallotta and his book Uncharitable, for helping me see that nonprofits need to have big advertising budgets to become more successful.
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May 5th, 2010 at 7:44 am
I totally agree that advertising for non profits is not a waste of money. Have I taken you up wrong though, sounds like you are suggesting we can compete with Coke and Nike?
May 5th, 2010 at 9:17 am
Hi Conor!
I think that if we dream big, we can compete with Coke and Nike. But that for most nonprofits, that would be a laughable idea.
But why shouldn’t we be successful, and profitable enough to get big enough to really solve our social issues?
I think if a nonprofit fundraiser had board approval, Executive Director buyin, and 60% donor kudos, a small nonprofit could start to build their marketing budget to compete with these big brands.
Mazarine
May 5th, 2010 at 1:57 pm
I adore your stuff Mazarine and hear where you’re coming from (and God only knows I have blogged and newslettered to death about the REAL ROI of the “free” mindset of nonprofit organizations) … however, I’m just not real clear about the real benefits of advertising for a nonprofit organization. Keep in mind, too, that my own clients and readers make up the 83% or so of US nonprofits with operating budgets of less than $1 million. I’m not sold on a bulletin board as a good expenditure. How does a bulletin board develop relationships with donors? Wouldn’t that $2,500 to rent the space be better spent divided between direct mail and establishing a regular email newsletter and accepting credit card payments for crying out loud (instead of the typical “free” donation tools used by most small NPOs) How does a newspaper ad build a relationship with a donor (and who the hell reads newspapers anymore?). Now I’m heading over to amazon to buy Dan’s book.
May 5th, 2010 at 6:20 pm
Hi Pamela,
Thank you for your thoughtful comment! I do appreciate your expertise here.
As Kim Klein says, 75% of all nonprofit donations come from individuals. If you don’t know a nonprofit is there, you can’t give to them. You need to keep reaching out to individuals for your unrestricted funds. And an individual will see a Nike billboard, and think, Ooh, I want shoes, versus a Habitat for Humanity billboard and think, Ooh, I want to help others!
In short,
1. Cultivating donor relationships and having a billboard are two means to an end, and are not mutually exclusive.
2. The more people who know that your nonprofit exists, the more likely they are to donate, if you have put your message out in an effective way.
3. Nothing takes the place of relationship cultivation with donors. But you can certainly add a billboard or a newspaper ad that will make more people want to learn more about you and become donors.
4. I do believe that people still read newspapers, watch TV, listen to the radio, etc. Just not as many as before. But it’s still worth it to put your name out there. I’ve gone to events where I saw an ad in the paper, or looked into a nonprofit because I heard about them on the radio.
I personally don’t own a TV, and the TV networks are losing eyeballs, but they still have millions of viewers. These viewers could be seeing images of your nonprofit, instead of images of shampoo or yet another consumer gadget that you don’t really need.
Nothing will build capacity like an influx of cash. And to make money, you have to spend money. On advertising, as well as on fundraiser salaries and other things. There’s nothing wrong with having self interest and being a fundraiser. We aren’t here to wear a hair shirt while we ask for money.
Thank you again for reading, and I think you will really love Dan’s book. Would love to talk with you about it over email!
Mazarine